For I have Touched the Stars
by BlankBrained
Summary: Allison Massey always imagined love like holding a star, a magical moment. But this star is hot headed Paul Lahote, and she very well might just get burned. An Paul/OC imprint story.
1. Chapter 1

_Alli had the pressing feeling of not being able to breathe. The thick shadows seemed be suffocating her, stealing her breath. Instead of her lungs moving, the shadows seemed to move of their own rhythm. They moved closer with every passing second, expanding and contracting, inching closer._

 _She shouldn't be scared of shadows. Shadows were just spaces with less light than the surrounding area. She shouldn't be scared. But every part of her screamed that she was. There was something out there, she was certain of it._

 _She could feel her feet moving before she realized she was even going forward. Her feet pounded into the ground trying to make sure they wouldn't slip on the wet dirt; as the skies seemed to open and pour down._

 _She could hear a rumbling noise drifting all around her. The fog carrying the noise until it covered her. It sounded vaguely like an engine maybe, but the more she heard the noise it became very clear. The noise was something living. That was something, she should be scared of._

 _She began to consciously run faster, Her body swerving between trees and brush. Her feet leaping over logs and into puddles. The shadows seemed to be reaching out, beckoning for her to come back. Branches tugged on clothing. Seams ripped to be free of the shadows' grasp._

 _Suddenly there were the cliffs. The cliffs overlooking the ocean. Her body jerked backwards to maintain a solid footing on the ground. Breath panting she looked out at the stormy waters below. The water seemed to be afraid, just like her. The waves were rushing around, crashing into one another._

 _She turned around as the rumble began to start again. Glowing eyes peered back from the edges of the shadowed forest. The rumbling, the deep growl was coming from it. Part of her wanted to take a step forward, towards the growling animal. But she knew that would be a bad decision. She turned again facing the water._

 _She jumped._

Alli groaned at the sound of the opening guitar riffs of her alarm clock. Upbeat music was supposed to motivate her to get up. _The Features_ starting singing as the volume slowly increased to guarantee her not going back to sleep. She took a few deep breaths as she rolled over to her back and stared at the ceiling for a few moments, mind caught in the vivid imagery of her dream, before turning off her alarm and slipping out of bed.

She threw on a pair of socks to protect her feet from the icy cold tile as she shuffled down the hall, pausing for a moment to bang on the singular bathroom's door as she walked by. "The bathroom is mine in 20 regardless if you are done or not Jase." She didn't wait to hear his inevitable snarky reply.

Finally down the stairs and into the kitchen she threw a piece of bread into the toaster and pulled the peanut butter and an orange from the fridge. She wasn't actually hungry. Her stomach seemed to think it would be funny to be flipping inside of her instead of actually letting food settle. She managed to keep down the orange and a few bites of toast.

Her mom sat down across from here. Alli was a near spitting image of her, all cinnamon skin and brown eyes, with cascading dark hair framing their faces. Alli just had the subtle difference of her hair being curly, courtesy of their father.

He mother spoke up after a moment of observing the food left on the plate. "That nervous?" Alli gave her a look in response that clearly said, _you have no idea._ She gave a small sympathetic smile. "I know this has been tough: your Dad, moving back to where I grew up, a new school, but you got this. One year left and then your future is up to you, not held captive your mother moving across the country."

"Like I am ever leaving you." Alli smarted back with a grin.

"You better. I'm not letting you live rent free for the rest of my life." Her mom pushed forward a glass of water and two small pills. "Don't forget. Did you pack your emergency meds too?"

Alli nodded, swallowing the pills and finishing off the glass of water. "Yep. I have to get started on my career of a drug dealer if I am ever going to pay your rent prices. I feel like I have a very promising future."

"Aw, cool. My sister is going to deal drugs! Can that be my fun fact as school today?" Jase interrupted as he came down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Alli rolled her eyes. "You can't steal my fun fact. Maybe you should tell them that you spend an hour manscaping every morning instead." She darted up the stairs laughing at her brother's shouts.

She quickly climbed into the shower taking the opportunity alone to check in with herself. The hot water was calming, which was good. She needed it right now. She could feel her heart beat a little faster than she should and her fingertips were tingling. She could get through today. She could do it.

She realized she spent a little too long in the shower and rushed to get ready throwing on a cream sweater to help combat the moist chilly air. Her blow dryer was still packed, she would just have to let her hair air dry. She quickly threw on some makeup and ran downstairs grabbing her bag on the way out.

Her car was a peice of junk barley running anymore. It took a few times to even get it to start. It was a champagne colored Chevrolet Monte Carlo that was almost as old as her. It probably would last a few years if she knew how to take care of it. She definitely didn't know how to care for it unless it was just giving it encouraging words while it started.

She dropped her brother off at the middle school first and then parked outside of the high school. She wouldn't get out of her car quite yet. The thought of walking into a brand new high school alone, especially in a small town, was enough to make her heart speed up with anxiety again.

She screamed as taps sounded on her window. She looked over to see her cousin Quil laughing. "Alli! I thought you were never going to get out of that car." He laughed at his own joke and opened the door for her.

She lightly smacked him on the arm. "I was getting things ready. Is that how you greet all of your family. I ought to tell your mom." Quil's laughing stopped immediately. "I'm joking Quil. But seriously, when did you get so big? Is there something in the water here?"

Alli hadn't been back to the reservation in two years. Last time she had seen her cousin Quil, he was a gangly 15 year old. Now he towered at least 6 inches above her, and much buffer than she last remembered. He made her look like a mouse compared to him.

Quil laughed and wrapped her in a hug. "I can't be going and telling all the tribe council secrets can I? But I can tell you that we are going to be late if you don't get your schedule from the office soon."

They headed in together, a quick stop at the office and then after looking over her schedule, she had to leave her cousin to attend different classes. And right on cue of her cousin leaving her stomach began to flip again.

She was lucky. Her first class was math, and no one seemed interested in her existence there at all. The teacher rattled off an insincere comment about how it was a joy to have another student in their classroom and then they were off learning about statistics. But the next class she wasn't as lucky. The overly excited teacher was all too eager to pull her up to the front of the room.

"I'm Allison, I mean I don't normally go by Allison I go by Alli. But I guess you can call me either. I used to live in Portland, but my mom is really excited to have us live where she grew up too." She looked over at the teacher who gestured for her to keep going. This had to be a version of hell, because this was quickly becoming torture. "I- I guess-um-I like reading?"

"Fantastic Allison, we are overjoyed to have you here."

Alli couldn't move fast enough back into her seat. She quickly slipped her hands under her desk and squeezed them hard together to help quell the shaking. _Deep breaths Alli. You can handle today. You got this._

She felt a hand tap her shoulder. She turned to find a boy she found vaguely familiar. Maybe one of Quil's friends? She had seen a few of them in photos he would occasionally send her while they emailed. She zoned it as his face turned more concerned. "-you need to go to the nurse? You look pale."

She blinked a few times before understanding his words. "Sorry no. I'm okay."

He gave a small smile but clearly didn't believe her. "You should have seen her in the beginning of the year. We all had to sit in a circle and talk about who we really were, and our goals for the class. I tried to tell her that I liked cars and she told me that was merely a surface reflection of the beautiful spirit I actually am." That got a small giggle out of Alli and he gave a smile back. "I'm Embry. You are Quil's cousin right?"

 _Embry._ That name suddenly clicked. She had met him before, two years ago. He was Quil's best friend alone with that Black kid. He was unrecognizable now. His long hair chopped to a crew cut, fully filled out just like Quil, now practically monstrous. She held back her disbelief and just nodded. "That's me."

The teacher began to drone on. They were put into groups of 5. They were told to start organizing a small demonstration of Q'waeti and the formation of the tribes of the Olympic Peninsula. They would each be leading a boat at the end of the year for the middle and elementary aged kids and telling them the legend.

"We got Quileutes." a group member named Sadie said with a laugh. "Well that makes things easier. Q'waeti saw no one living in this land but wolves. So he turned the wolves into people and told them they should forever be protectors and warriors of the peninsula."

Embry was still laughing when he walked Alli to lunch. "I don't get what is so funny?"

Embry just shook his head. "The legends man. They are just funny. I can't talk about it. Just trust me." Alli rolled her eyes and they walked into the cafeteria. She grabbed a random array of foods and sat down at an empty table. She had been sitting for barely a few seconds when her tray disappeared from in front of her.

She whipped around to watch Quil carrying her food away. "You aren't eating alone, come on." She darted after him mumbling something about how she could do what she wanted and then annoyed, plopped herself in the seat in front of the tray.

She could feel her nerves grow again, surrounded by a giant wall of tall boys all shouting at one another. She picked at her food until Quil sat down next to her gesturing to her.

"This is Alli. Alli you've met Embry." She nodded and he gave her a smile. "That's Jake, Jared, Seth, Leah, and Paul." She nodded and gave small smiles to all of them.

Her eyes met Paul's. She could feel a warmth start in her toes and rapidly race up to the top of her head. She watched as his face changed from awe to fury in the matter of seconds.

Alli grabbed her bag, turned, and ran.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi there. I'm so excited that so many of you like this story! I haven't written for a long time and honestly this story is just to get me back into the swing of things and get me to finish a story, something I haven't done since my original novel 2 years ago. I'm not promising any quality of writing. My updates won't be on any set schedule. I will try my hardest to update as often as I can. I am writing away as we speak. I'm also studying for finals. So just because there are two updates in one day doesn't mean it will continue to be that way. It makes me really happy to see you guys review, and makes me really happy to see that you favorite or follow my story. Thank you so much.**

 **Just letting you know that this chapter does include a description of a panic attack. If you are like me and this can sometimes trigger one for you than after the line break you might just want to just skim through the first few paragraphs. If you are struggling with anxiety or mental illness you aren't alone and I highly reccomend crisis text line to have a trained listener help you work through this. 3 Catie**

Quil's hand reached out to catch Alli's arm as she darted out with no luck. She was gone in an instant. He thought a second about chasing after her but instead snapped his head around at Paul, already starting to shake. "What the fuck did you do?"

Both Paul and Quil were shaking, their wolves near the surface. In a practiced moment the entire pack was outside. As soon as the cover of trees fully surrounded them they exploded. Quil and Paul walking in circles around each other snarling.

Quil made the first move of dominance, light brown leaning over the dark silver. Paul clearly had the advantage over Quil, towering above him. Paul was third in command, he could throw Quil down in an instant, the fight would be over. But he seemed to be hesitating.

 _You think I wanted this Quil? I'm the last person who wanted an imprint._ Paul shouted in his head continuing the circles around the lighter wolf, snarling.

Quil snapped back. _Exactly why you don't deserve her._

Logically Paul agreed. It didn't make sense for him to have an imprint, let alone be the second one to get an imprint. But his wolf was mad at Quil even questioning their bond and before he could even think he had Quil pinned to the ground. His teeth snapped within centimeters of his skin. Quil managed to get in a good kick that knocked Paul off of him and stepped back a few paces, hair still bristled, teeth still bared.

 _She needs someone stable right now. She can't handle the unhinged hothead who shifts without notice._ Quil leaped at Paul and there was a tumbling mess of light brown and dark silver. The colors moved in and out, the snarls that echoed through the trees. Both of them were landing hits. Paul had Quil pinned again, mouth heading towards his throat.

 _ENOUGH._ The black body of a wolf flipped Paul off of Quil. The Alpha's order making both of their heads bow down to him in submission. _Neither of you were reasonable in this. Quil, the Spirits chose, Paul didn't. Paul, denying your imprint isn't going to help anything. Both of you phase back and find some clothes, you have patrol together tonight. The rest of you back to school._ He snarled one last time before watching to make sure everyone followed his commands.

Paul winced at he pulled on an extra pair of shorts that he had hidden in the trees behind the school for occasions like this. It wasn't because of the scratches that were scattered across his body. It was like something was pulling in the pit of his stomach, almost hurting. He took a deep breath and ignored it, walking towards Sam despite all of his instincts screaming to go the other way.

Alli couldn't breathe. Her chest was too tight. It was suffocating her as her breath came out in tiny pants. Her entire body hurt, ice was flowing through her veins. Her limbs tingled with the effort it took to keep upright in her car. She wasn't entirely sure why she chose her car. But there she was, curled in the backseat.

It took her a solid ten minutes to be able to make the coherent thought of her medication sitting in her backpack. Her shaky limbs darted out clumsily grabbing her bag and unzipping it. She grabbed the prescription bottle. Her hands slipped again and again on the small top, not able to actually open the bottle. She let out a small sob of frustration as she realized she would have to calm down before she could take anything.

 _What can you see?_ She attempted to focus on the water bottle in the backseat of her car. The small bundle of CD's in the pocket behind the driver's seat, the exactly 4 lights in the car, his eyes. Anything but his eyes. _Fine what do you hear?_ Her own breathing, her heartbeat, the crinkle of her clothing, growls in the distance. _Those aren't real. You are imagining things. Take a deep breath._ A few deep breaths later the shaking eased enough for her to be able to open the bottle. She popped a pill in her mouth and pulled out her phone.

She first shot one text out to her mother,

 **can you take me home please.**

The next one to Quil,

 **Got sick, mom taking me home. I left my keys in the glove compartment. Mind dropping the car off at your place. I'll pick it up later.**

She then hugged her knees to her chest trying to process what happened as the Xanax kicked in. She had to be going crazy. Beyond what she originally thought she was crazy. So crazy that she was imagining things. There was no way, but those eyes. She was so sure.

Her mom was the next one to appear, her face creased in mild concern as she helped Alli out of her car and into the other, not talking until they were home, both sat on a couch. Alli's mom gently ran her hand though Alli's hair, taking note of her breathing slowing down as Alli laid her head on her shoulder.

"What happened Al?"

Alli paused trying to keep the shaking out of her voice. "I'm might be going crazy."

Her mom let out a soft laugh. "We already knew that. What caused this?"

Allison paused for a long moment. "Do you believe that dreams can come true. Or at least parts of them?"

"Like prophetic dreams? I guess. Did you see the future?" She laughed a little.

"No, I hope not. It was chasing me in my dream. But his eyes. A boy today. His eyes were the same as my dreams." She turned to face her mom. "I told you I'm crazy."

Her mom cupped Alli's face in her hands. "You are not crazy. The spirits are trying to tell you something. Either this boy will mean a lot to you, or you need to stay far away from him. But you are not crazy."

Alli nodded with a small smile appreciating her mother's advice. "Do you want to know who the boy is?"

Her mom laughed. "Oh Allison. I don't think you know who this boy is yet. Once you know him, tell me his name. But I'm not going to make any judgments based on prophecies made for you to listen too."

She kept sitting on the couch, holding her steaming mug of tea as she thought. What did it all mean? The spirits had to be telling her to run away. The warmth when she looked at him. The dream. It wasn't natural. It wasn't normal. If there were prophecies and spirits and guiding forces it all pointed that she should be running for the hills.

She noticed her phone buzzing beside her. Quil.

 **U ok?**

 **I'll bring it by your house.**

 **Need anything?**

 **Can I stop by?**

Alli laughed at his repeated texts. It felt good to be cared about. Even if it was by family. She didn't get a chance to type out a reply before a knock sounded on the door. She opened it to see a beaming Quil dangling her keys. "Your barely functioning death trap has arrived."

Alli grabbed back the keys. "My car and I are best friends. She would never hurt me."

Quil was already halfway to the kitchen. "Do you have anything to eat. I'm starving."

"I mean I can make you toast but anything else and you are risking me burning the house down." Alli said while grabbing the bread and throwing a few pieces into the toaster. She sat up on the counter while she waited for the bread to toast.

Quil opened cabinets until he found two plates and then set them next to Alli. "So, what happened today?"

Alli distracted herself by fiddling with the butter knife as she spoke. "I got overwhelmed. There has just been a lot lately."

Quil nodded, not needing to say anything to understand what she was referring to. "You know what you need? To go to a bonfire. Friday."

"I thought the council was only allowed to invite people." Alli grabbed the toast out of the toaster and put it on the plates and started spreading the peanut butter on it. She smacked Quil's hand as it reached over to steal the piece before she was done.

"Well Old Quil said you could come." Quil poked her shoulder. "Once in a lifetime opportunity. Come on, let's go."

"Fine. I'll go." _Maybe then my dream might actually make sense._

 **I'm sorry this chapter is kind of short and awkward. It was needed to set some things up later on!**


	3. Chapter 3

Friday came quicker than expected. Alli made it her mission to make the gap between her and Paul bigger. Her dream kept coming every night. Every night his eyes appeared out of the shadows, growls coming from his chest. And every night Alli jumped. She didn't eat with the boys anymore. She was spending more and more time with Sadie from her group project. She spoke to Embry as little as she could. The separation was better. It meant she would be farther away from the boy in her dreams.

The October air was cold. The sun had already set. Alli was already shivering as she wrapped her jacket tighter around her. She wasn't expecting the wind to literally through her jacket and instantly regretted not grabbing a thicker one. She grabbed the an empty seat, expecting Quil to sit next to her. But he darted across the circle, grabbing a bag of chips from the food table and then sitting next to Jake. Alli stood, about to move over to the other side but as she did Old Quil started speaking.

Alli quickly sat down, not wanting to interrupt her grandfather welcoming all coming to the meeting that night. She felt the log she was sitting on shift and glanced over. Her eyes met his again, and there it was again. A warm almost tingle, starting in her toes and radiating up to the top of her head. She quickly looked back down focusing herself on keeping her breathing slow and listening to the stories that were about to be told. She rubbed her arms to get warm.

She felt something heavy drape across her shoulders and flinched as the sudden object. It fell to the ground and Paul picked it back up, this time holding it in front of her. "Sorry, you just looked cold."

She gently pushed it back. "I can't, you stay warm."

Paul laughed, a sound that made her heart skip a little, this time not because of anxiety. "I don't get cold, take it." He set it in her lap and turned his attention to Old Quil sitting at the head of the circle.

Alli nodded her thanks and slipped the heavy leather jacket around her shoulders, trying to ignore how much she enjoyed the spicy, musky smell that drifted around her nose as she slipped her arms through the too long sleeves. Now that he had mentioned it, she could feel waves of heat rippling off of him in waves. That didn't make sense, _I'm just feeling the fire,_ she justified to herself quickly.

Her grandfather's voice quickly pulled her out of her thoughts. "We were always destined to be warriors. Our spirits were transformed from wolves. Q'waeti saw that our land needed protection. He turned the first wolves he saw into men, and told them they should forever be fierce and loyal to the lands they lived upon.

'For many years the fierce warriors lived on. The spirit of the wolf being passed down to those worthy in their line." Alli felt as if people were watching her reaction as they spoke, she adjusted Paul's jacket, refusing to take her eyes off of the fire as the stories continued.

"One day the warriors came across something new. A man was in the forest, his victims mercilessly spread around him. His skin was as white as snow. His body as tough as stone. The warriors fearlessly ran after him. His strength was beyond any man's. But our warriors sharp teeth and tough claws ripped him to pieces, and fire destroyed any chance of this creature coming back to life. We call them, the cold ones."

"Scared?" Paul whispered into Alli's ear making her jump.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not scared of stories, just interested." Alli whispered back, annoyance clear in her voice.

"But what if they aren't stories. What if they are all true?" Alli looked at him expecting him to be joking, and was mildly confused when he seemed all serious. Well if he wanted to play that way...

Alli turned her body so it fully faced him, and looked at his eyes trying to keep her heartbeat steady and her mind away from her dream. "These may have been true in the past but when is the last you have seen 'a cold one'. These warriors sole purpose was to protect us against them."

Paul's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion, or frustration, Alli couldn't tell. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying even if it was true decades upon decades ago, magic is near to dead. We don't have spirit warriors or cold ones anymore, and I have to say I'm kind of glad about that. I don't think I would trust something that's sole purpose was to destroy other things. But they are stories. Their only purpose now is to learn from them, take what mistakes we made in the past and not repeat them." Alli finished her whispered rant and turned back to the fire, not noticing the look of hurt that flashed across Paul's face. There was a long pause as Paul thought and Alli tried to understand the story being told when she had just missed the majority of it.

"I don't think magic is dead." Paul whispered to her.

Alli sighed. "And you are entitled to your opinion. Now I am trying to listen."

"-to thank the protectors of these lands for their service the spirits gave them a gift. It started with Taka Ahi and his third wife. When their eyes met the spirits bound their souls together. Taka Ahi would be anything for his wife, do anything for his wife. The spirit warriors called their other halfs their imprints, for their lives would forever be marked with each other." Old Quil finished closing the bonfire according to customs.

Everyone hung around after that. Alli took a few moments to visit with her grandfather before drifting back to Quil. "Thanks for ditching me."

Quil snorted. "Ditching you I was doing you a favor. Getting all buddy buddy with Paul?"

"No one was getting buddy buddy with anyone. We were just talking." Alli sharply retorted.

Quil laughed at Alli angrily glaring at him. "First comes talking, then comes marriage, then comes babies in a baby carriage." Quil half sang.

"QUIL!"

"I mean you are already wearing his clothes." Quil kept going ignoring the furious look on Alli's face.

Alli flushed, hands automatically fiddling with the sleeves of the giant jacket she was dwarfed in. "Yeah I need to give this back. Where did he go."

"To Sam and Emily's. Emily made us cookies, come on." Quil said while grabbing Alli's arm and guiding her towards his car again. "Come on."

Alli hesitated but allowed Quil to put her in his car, taking her to this Emily and Sam's house. She had heard those names before, a couple times while eating lunch with Quil, and when he said he had patrol with Sam with his neighborhood watch thing he was a part of. It was about time she met them she supposed, there was only 500 people on their reservation, she almost knew everyone anyways.

"One thing about Emily." Quil said as he parked in front of a quaint house tucked into the woods. "Don't stare. Sam doesn't like it." But before Alli could ask any questions Quil was out of the car, running up to one of the boys, Seth maybe? Alli followed them inside.

Emily danced around the room with a calm and confidence that Allison watched in awe. She spoke to all of the boys as if they were her family. She flitted from boy to boy smacking one on the hand for eating more than their share and sneaking others extras. Alli was so in awe of how this one person could look so at place doing such simple things she didn't even notice at first.

There were long scars along Emily's face, clearly older as they were only lightly pink and white, but very notable. Alli couldn't even think of what must have happened to cause marks like that. The size of it, she was lucky to even be alive. "You probably shouldn't stare."

Alli whipped around at the sound of the voice, to see Paul, yet again. "I didn't mean too." She could feel her cheeks heating up with a flush. "Oh your jacket, you must want that." Alli started to shrug out of it but was stopped.

"Nah keep it until you have on a warmer one. I would hate for you to get cold, also it means I get to see you again." Paul smirked running his hand through his short hair as he finished his almost pick up line.

In one swift movement Alli had his jacket off and shoved in his hands. _Distance, the dream, just in case._ She thought quickly. "More the reason to give it back now." She quickly turned away not wanting to see any reaction. She couldn't help wondering why it almost hurt to turn down this boy. It felt so much different than the few boys she had said no to before.

She had gotten a few steps away before she was spun back around by a hand on the top of her arm. She attempted to yank her arm away with no luck. "Let go." She was slightly stunned.

Paul's face wasn't angry like Alli expected, it was hurt. "What did I do?"

Alli on the other hand was mad, almost furious. "Nothing, and let's keep it that way." Alli tried to step away again but Paul's hand still held. "When someone says let go, you let go." She stomped down on his foot as hard as she could, as soon as his hand released she turned immediately racing over to Quil. "Take me home now. Please."

 **A/N: Poor Paul, just trying to get close to his imprint but Alli hasn't figured it out yet. Thank you again for reading! I love hearing from you so if you want please review or add this story to your alerts to get updates when I post which is fairly frequently right now.**


	4. Chapter 4

_It was like she had never left in the first place, she was shoved back into the dream. Her lungs were not cooperating. The pressing feeling on her chest refused to lift. She found herself pressing her hands against her chest checking to make sure there wasn't something clinging onto it, slowly strangling her._

 _The thick shadows seemed to move in closer with every short in breath, encroaching onto her tiny frame, expanding and never contracting back to their original form. Every breath seemed like an eternity before she could pull in another one._

 _Alli still didn't know what was so terrifying in the shadows. But it was like every part of her was screaming to move away, to get out as fast as she could. Something was wrong, it was so very wrong, it shouldn't be there._

 _She began moving forward. Her eyes frantically skimming the shadows with a fervor. If she knew what she was running from maybe she could figure out where to go. But all she could see was bodies, Pale lifeless bodies, small pools of blood under them._

 _So she ran. Her feel barely keeping balance on the wet slick ground, fog seeming to get closer around her. It was thick. The moisture carried the sound through the air. The low growls of some kind of animal echoed all around her, impossible to pin where it was coming from._

 _She reached the edge of the cliffs and gazed down at the waters revolting below her. The sounds of them crashing into the rocks. The waves large enough to be able to pull the movement out even up on the highest points of the cliffs._

 _The growls got louder. The rumble from deep inside the living thing's chest vibrated the very ground she stood on. She slowly turned looking back into the shadows she had just left. There they were. His eyes. The perfect cider brown that she knew belonged to one person alone._

 _Someone her voice managed to slip out of her quivering lips despite her fear. "Paul please, Paul don't" She softly begged._

 _One large paw reached out of the shadows now illuminated in the cloudy light. The paw easily as big as her own head. The shape emerged slowly. First a paw, then a nose, a muzzle, a snarling mouth. A full head of a dark silver wolf towering above her._

 _Alli knew what she had to do. She turned and threw herself into the water below._

Her eyes flew open at a new unheard of rate. She jolted upright in bed. She had had the same dream almost every single night since she came back, but this was one different. For the first time ever there was a wolf, the bodies. She steadied herself with a deep breath. _It was because of the legends last night, that's all._ She quickly thought. She tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes and stretched trying finish slowing her racing heart.

She glanced over at her clock, she still had two hours before her interview with the local restaurant. She desperately needed a job. Without her dad now her mom was only picking up occasional substitute jobs till she could get a more stable career as a teacher again near by. Alli knew that if she ever wanted to go to college she needed to start saving up, preferably she would have started last year.

The interview had gone well, better than she had expected. They seemed vaguely impressed that she had any experience at all, and she felt like she did well. They didn't hire her on the spot but they said they would let her know in a day or two. She had hope at least.

Her car was acting strange. She was pressing on the gas as hard at she could, but her car wasn't really accelerating anymore. She looked around, she wasn't on a hill. Her car was still running. It just wasn't moving more than 20 miles an hour. She quickly threw on her emergency lights and pulled to the side of the road. Maybe starting it again would help.

A steady stream of swear words seemed to flow through Alli's thoughts as she tried to restart her car again and again. She thought it might be like a computer or any other piece of technology, restart it. But then it wouldn't start at all. The engine would give a valiant effort, then splutter and flicker off again, and again, and again.

She glanced at her phone. She didn't have enough service to be able to call Quil or Embry to get them to help her out. She was driving on a back road, she knew one of the main ones of reservation ran parallel, if she just went through the small clearing of trees she would hit it.

She grabbed her jacket and bag out of the car and made her decision. It was less than a mile to the other street, she just needed someone's help or cell service. It wouldn't be a big deal.

The stench of vampire was always revolting no matter how many times the pack got a whiff of it. It was too sweet, sickly sweet, with a rotten flesh aftertaste that seemed to linger in the back of the throat. It was unmistakable.

Seth and Paul were on patrol when they first got the whiff of it towards the north eastern part of their land, by Lake Ozette. They ran inwards for a moment, just close enough to get within ear range of some of the pack members and let out a distinct warning howl. The pack would shift shortly and they could explain the situation then.

They continued following the stench, the pack mind slowly growing as member after member phased and began the hunt for the intruder in their land. Everyone was on high alert as they moved from the outer edges to closer in, getting increasingly anxious as they got closer to streets that people could actually be on. The scent got stronger as they went into an offshoot of the forest, near the cliffs.

It was stormy, the chance of there being anyone deciding to cliff dive was slim to none, people would be safe. And then Paul caught a whiff of something else entirely. Alli was here. She was close.

Immediately a snarl escaped his lips, suddenly this wasn't just about his duty to protect his tribe. It was a much more instinctual duty to protect his imprint. Why was she even here? If anything happened to her.

 _Dude, we'll protect her. It's like seven to one Vamp._ Seth thought to Paul's slightly panicked thoughts.

 _You would know if she was hurt or scared. She's safe right now._ Sam chimed in. _Let's keep it that way._

Sam, at the least, was right about that. For now she was fine. Although the urge to find his imprint and double check was like a string tugging him to her location. He almost voiced his need to go check when the wind changed slightly. The smell of the vampire was suddenly very fresh and near.

Paws thundered towards the smell, Paul could barely hear his commands to not rush into an attack. Protect was his only instinct right now, and it was growing as he could feel a pull of fear from his imprint.

The rain was getting heavier, and Alli was getting increasingly more happy that she had grabbed her thickest jacket. Its heavy warmth was doing well at making sure she wasn't entirely soaked through. She could see the thinning of trees a head but was getting more confused if anything. She could have sworn there was a road here, but all there were, were the cliffs.

She stepped out of the trees to the rockier surface. She could see a silhouette in the distance. Maybe she had come out by the trails instead. "Hey!" she called out towards the figure. "So sorry to bother you." she kept walking towards him.

Once she was closer she noticed how pale his skin was. It wasn't like the kids that lived in Forks. It was lacking all of the pink tones you would normally see. It seemed too stiff, almost like wax, or stone. She brushed off the pull in her stomach to leave, to run as fast as she could.

The boy turned, his shoulder length blonde hair twirling itself into knots in the wind as it picked up. His eyes flickered to the trees as a howl sounded, but his eyes locked with Alli's as he let out a much to sinister grin. "Not a bother at all, I was actually looking for something too."

Alli found herself automatically moving away with every step this boy took, her breath speeding up, body shaking in automatic response to the fear building. Her back was too the cliffs now, eyes locked with the eyes of the boy in front of her. "I-I-I like your contacts." she managed to stammer out. "I never knew they made red ones. That's f-f-festive for Halloween I guess." she let out a timid laugh.

The grin still hadn't faded from his lips. "I was looking for a place to have dinner. And I wish I had more time. But it looks like this might have to be fast." His voice was too musical, too nonchalant.

"W-w-we don't have fast food here. But O-o-oceanside diner is pretty good." Alli managed to squeak out, taking another step back.

From the behind the boy she could see a set of eyes, the same eyes from her dream, and she could feel her own eyes well up in response. Her dream. She glanced back at the cliffs, now only a few steps behind her. She took a deep breath.

An ice cold hand wrapped around the top of her arm yanking her close ruining her plan. A small whimper escaped her lips in response. As soon as the noise escaped her lips a vicious growl echoed through the forest. The eyes seemed to fill with fury. Large paws taking a step forward to reveal a dark gray wolf.

"I wouldn't move any closer." the musical voice of Alli's captor sounded halting the snarls and now multiple pairs of eyes. "I would hate it if my mouth slipped." The boy moved one arm around Alli's waist, still holding her close to his body, the other gripping her hand, holding it against his stone lips.

There were so many growls the very ground seemed to shudder in fear but the boy seemed to laugh holding Alli with such a confidence. Suddenly his grasp on her hand was tighter, almost painfully so and before she could even think her feet were no longer on the ground.

"Please stop. Please, please, _please,_ let me go." Alli managed to whisper.

"Oh but sweetheart, you are my way out." His mouth grazed along her hand and then he flung her like a frisbee out off the cliff and into the water below.

 **A/N: Its the almost weekend which means while I am avoiding studying for finals I will be writing a ton. So don't fret my friends a new chapter will be here soon! Until then I would love to hear what you think will happen to Alli? Do you think she had connected the legends to what is happening now? Or is she all in a state of denial?**


	5. Chapter 5

Paul was in physical pain due to the sheer amount of restraint it took to keep himself next to Sam instead of darting ahead, saving his imprint. He could feel the waves of fear coming from her.

" _I like your contacts."_ He could hear her say, and couldn't help but to let out a snarl. Alli was his. How dare a filthy bloodsucker even be that close to her.

" _I was looking for a place to have dinner, but it looks like we might have to make it fast."_

There is was such surge of panic and fear that felt like it was an actual force pulling him closer. The more it bubbled up within Alli the more it hurt for him to not be helping her. It was a physical pain. And the fact that it was a vampire, the one thing they were designed to destroy, made the guilt mingle with it. It shouldn't have even gotten this far into the land.

And then he could see her. Her long dark hair moving wildly in the wind. He could see her fear written plainly on her face. Her skin was lacking much of its reddish glow. Her eyes were giant with fright. He could watch her shoulders rise and fall too fast, panic setting in. He knew she didn't understand, but her instincts were good, she knew he was trouble.

The bloodsucker's hand darted out before anyone could move. It was only Sam's barely heard command that kept me in my place as he help my Alli. My imprint. I could hear shaking in her voice as she pleaded with this heartless being to let her go. Her eyes met with mine, tears starting to pool and slip down her cheeks.

A growl was ripped from my throat before I could even think about containing it. The entire pack was growling. It was an instinct to every member of the pack that when any imprint was in danger, to protect them.

 _No one rush into anything. We do the wrong thing and we could hurt Allison._ Sam's command echoed through the pack mind. He watched as the rest of the pack bent their head in acknowledgement.

Paul made eye contact with Sam, the pull of his imprint outweighing the Alpha command. _I will do whatever I need to help her._

The entire conversation in the pack mind happened in milliseconds. And then Paul's world shattered. He watched as the bloodsucker's mouth grased Alli's hand. His entire world turned red, his paws moving forward to rip the filthy monster to pieces. Before he could take more than two steps Alli was flung like a rag doll over the edge.

Everything happened too fast in that moment. His imprint falling towards the water in the same instance of the vampire leaping over the large ravine to the other side. He moved on instinct alone phasing back into a human and leaping over the edge of the cliff to help Alli below.

The first thing Alli noticed was the strange feeling of her arm almost being used like a whip to fling her off of the cliff. Everything then seemed to move in slow motion. She felt the movement of her bones in her shoulder, mer muscles desperately clinging to their proper position before her shoulder popped out of place. She noticed the sharp pain that started in her upper arm and seemed to shoot down to the tips of her fingers and up to the back of her neck. And then did she finally realise she was plummeting.

She felt herself falling mere milliseconds before hitting the water. Her air rushed out of her, and her body automatically sucked in as much as possible, her desperate gasps filling her mouth and lungs with icy water instead. She frantically started trying to fight the stormy waters up, but with the dark waters and the black spots starting to form on her vision her sense of direction was off and she didn't seem to be getting anywhere.

The black spots were growing, covering her entire frame of vision. She could feel her body struggling less. Her lungs were burning, her arm throbbing, but it felt like it was far away, almost like she was floating outside of her body. She could almost feel a sudden warm hand gripping her arm but then everything went black.

The water was ice cold. Paul was suddenly grateful for the fact that he ran particularly hot. It would stave off hypothermia longer. Alli on the other hand, was thin and already hurt. Paul had no doubt he only had about five minutes before the shock set in.

He struggled with the current to get closer to her. She was clearly fighting as well, but getting nowhere. Everytime she started to move towards the surface the down current would sweep her farther under the water. He watched as her movements started to grow slower. Paul could feel his own panic propel him forward finally grabbing her arm and then her around the waist as they struggled to shore.

Paul was out of breath by the time he laid Alli on the ground. Her skin was blue tinged. She wasn't breathing. He checked pulse, and took a deep breath when there was one. Now he just had to get her breathing. He rolled her onto her side allowing what water he could, roll out of her mouth. He then forced air into her lungs, and repeated the process.

After two or three times Alli started coughing expelling the water from her lungs. Paul tried to support her and she started sitting up, not responding yet to Paul's presence as she spat up and wretched the water from her lungs and stomach. He held her hair back and rubbed her back as she did. Allison paused for a few minutes trying to regain her breath before finally making her first noise.

"Ow."

"Is it your neck? What hurts?" Paul quickly asked finally looking her over fully. She had a small gash that was bleeding from what looked like the back of her head, but she seemed to be moving okay. And then he looked at her hand. There was a small scratch, slightly silver, barely visible to his enhanced eyesight. The vampire didn't break skin. She was safe.

"Paul?" Alli finally turned towards him. "What-?" He could hear her breath and heart start speeding up as she made eye contact.

"What hurts?" He quickly interrupted. He could deal with the inevitable questions later, but for now he needed to know if he needed to call an ambulance or drive her to the hospital himself.

"Shoulder, chest, head." Alli quickly listed off.

Paul locked up his guilt and put it in a corner in the back of his mind. Right now he needed her to be okay. "I need to take off your jacket. This might hurt." He tried as gently as he could to slip it off her arms. He moved down the edge of her shirt quickly telling the problem, the image of her being flung flashing through his brain. He needed to stay calm for her. "Its dislocated." He quickly slipped off the belt from his shorts, strapping it together to make a makeshift sling. Her chest was probably because of the effort it took to get the water out. He quickly looked at her head. He needed to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. He wished he had a shirt but rung out the water from her jacket and started to bring it towards her head.

"Don't use that." Alli quickly shouted, her sudden outburst startling Paul for a second as she grabbed it out of his hands. "Its important. Um here." Paul watched in amazement as she screwed her eyes shut and tried to undo the buttons on the front of her shirt.

"Let me." Paul leaned close to her neck to bite the seam to break the begining knot to be able to rip the shirt down the front. He tried to ignore the surge of guilt that came as Alli flinched away. He ripped the shirt down her injured arm to help ease the pain of taking off her shirt. He managed to then undo her buttons and slip the shirt the rest of the way off, leaving Alli only in her camisole. He placed it on her head applying some pressure.

"I don't recall giving you permission to undress me Lahote." Alli managed to squeeze out between winces and shivers.

"I don't recall giving you permission to go into shock on me Massey." Paul quickly retorted. "We need to get to the hospital. Can you walk."

"My legs aren't broken." Alli grabbed the shirt out of Paul's hand and pressed it to her own head, and tried to stand. Her eyes swam and she could feel her knees buckling. Paul quickly caught her around the waist. She took a deep breath. "I'm going to puke."

"Deep breaths." Paul coached watching her face go slightly gray again. Once she seemed to have a better grasp on not vomiting or passing out, he carefully lifted her into his arms, steadying her against his chest. "Let's get you to the hospital."

Alli snuggled closer to Paul's warmth. She didn't realize how cold she actually was until she felt what warmth felt like again. Something about his smell was grounding. He smelled like cinnamon and earth. It was warm and dark and satisfying all at once. She didn't realize how much of a headache she had had lately, it was different from the one she was sporting from the blood seeping out of the back of her head. As if Paul had cured this unknown tension she had been sporting.

"Hey A, you aren't falling asleep on me are you?" Paul asked moderately concerned interrupting Alli's train of thought.

"A? We are on a nickname basis?" Alli let out a small laugh trying to control her shivers.

"Lahote?" Paul shot back

"Touche" Alli fell into silence, and they quickly came upon a small house tucked back into the woods. Paul quickly shifted Alli into the car and then slipped in as well, blasting the heat as high as he could as he sped over the the hospital.

He carried her in, which would catch the attention of the small staff anyways. But it looked like half of the city of Forks was sick, foreheads sheened with sweat. Alli was the only one in there who actually qualified an emergency. The staff was already on edge, and Alli was immediately offered a bed in a trauma room, a pair of scrubs and some socks instead of her soaking wet clothes, and a small pile of blankets.

A nurse came into the room and started asking Alli questions. She started babbling off the answers and Paul starting backing away, expecting to be asked to leave, to give her privacy. He was part way out the door when Alli's eyes panicked met his. "Paul, please stay, please."

He was by her side in an instant, holding her hand and rubbing it gently. "Hey, deep breaths. I'll stay. I don't have any plans anyways." He could watch her relax as he held her hand, allowing her to grip it tighter as they administered an I.V.

" will be in shortly." the overly happy nurse announced after cleaning up her station.

Paul's eyes shot up from Alli's face. "Is there anyone else than Cullen?"

The nurse looked confused. "He's our only trauma doctor in right now. I can assure you he's the best we have, Allison is in great hands." She gave yet another smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and left the room.

Paul's jaw clenched as Alli gave him a strange look. "This doctor murder your family or something?"

Paul shook his head. "Don't worry about it. You sure you want me to stay here?" Paul asked again mentally screaming at her to say yes, he wasn't about to leave her with another bloodsucker in the same day.

"Please? I don't know if I can handle doing all of this alone." Alli gave a sheepish smile and then gave a small cough.

Paul was about to make a comment but was interrupted by the sickly smell of entering the room. He had to work hard to keep himself neutral, to avoid any shaking. The last thing he needed was to freak out Allison more. But as soon as Allison laid her eyes on him her entire demeanor changed.

Paul could almost watch her brain make the connection. His hand was about to fall off with the sheer amount of pressure she was placing on it. The heart monitor sped up as the doctor got closer and she looked at Paul panicked. Paul tried to make what seemed like mildly reassuring noises. "You're safe. I promise." He whispered to her quietly while shooting the bloodsucker a look that clearly said ' _I will murder you before I break that promise.'_

Carlisle stayed a few feet away, not wanting to overwhelm the poor girl. His nose was overwhelmed by the stench of dog, but he could still pick up on the smell of vampire on her, It wasn't familiar, most likely a nomad. He plastered on his friendly smile and soothing voice. "I'm , but you are welcome to call me Carlisle. Would you mind answering some questions for me?" He waited for her nod and continued. "Name?"

"Allison Rose Massey."

Paul was stunned at how much smaller her voice sounded now. He had the sudden urge to kick Cullen out, make her feel safe again. But he knew he couldn't do that, deny her treatment. She was in pain, she could be sick. She needed help. So Paul kept his mouth shut.

"Date of Birth?"

"November 17th, 1999."

"Are you on any medications including multivitamins?"

Allison paused for a moment glancing at Paul before continuing. "200mg of Zoloft and 20 mg of Nadolol. And then Xanax for emergencies."

"What brought you in today?"

Allison looked at Paul again, suddenly confused. "I'm not sure. I f-fell" Allison stumbled over that word, memories of the pale faced boy holding her too close surging through her brain "off the cliff, because I slipped. I hit the water, and passed out I think. And then Paul got me out."

Paul nodded and cleared his throat. "I saw her fall into the water. I jumped in to save her. I managed to get her out. She was unresponsive for about two minutes, but still had a slow pulse. I used rescue breaths to get her conscious. We think she dislocated her shoulder and has about a two inch laceration on the back of her head. She might have a concussion."

Dr. Cullen moved forward slipping on gloves and cutting away the edge of Alli's shirt to expose her shoulder. Paul could feel himself starting to shake as he saw the blackening bruise of the handprint. Cullen's hand began gently pressing on the area, Paul wasn't actually listening to Cullen's quiet words and observations. Alli's hand was squeezing his with a ferocity that it shocked his system back into reality. She was in pain and scared, his wolf wasn't needed in this moment. He was.

"Hey A?" He waited until her eyes snapped open and met his. "Have you ever heard why the boy cried wolf?"

"No?" Alli gave him a very confused look wincing as the doctor injected some kind of muscle relaxant/painkiller into her arm.

"He wanted a howling experience." Paul gave a cheesy grin.

Alli rolled her eyes. "That doesn't even make sense."

Paul raised his eyebrows in challenge. "You have a better one?"

"Umm." Alli paused, quickly trying to hide her wince with a swallow as Cullen prodded around the back of her head. "What's a duck's favorite drug."

"Ducks do drugs now, what is this world coming too." His face growing a smile as the corners of Alli's mouth turned up slightly.

"Yeah. They do quack. It's a serious problem." Alli finished with a full blown grin, slightly proud of her joke.

Paul let out a little chuckle. "Quack. Nice one. You beat me."

Dr. Cullen then chose that moment to interrupt. "Lucky news, you don't seem to have a concussion or need stitches on that cut. It's not that deep. Head wounds just tend to bleed a lot. I am going to send in an x-ray technician to get a picture of your shoulder and then we will get you all fixed up and out of here hopefully. If I can just grab Paul for a moment."

Alli nodded "Thank you, Hey Paul could you do me a favor? Could you ask Quil to call my mom and let her know that I am here but I'm okay?"

"Absolutely. I'll be outside if you need me. Just shout." Paul followed the Doctor as he said some words to the nurse at the desk and then motioned for the boy to follow him into his office.

The office was more welcoming than Paul expected, although that wasn't saying much. Part of Paul was expecting a coffin and a mini-fridge with bags of blood in the corner. But this was all warm brown leathers and nice wood with pictures of his "family" scattered on bookshelves of knick knacks and books with long names he didn't care to read.

"I'm just going to be blunt. Did you hurt her?"

Paul's eyes darkened the second the implication left his mouth. "I would never. If you are going to be making claims look to your kind. A nomad wandered into our lands. We were chasing it down when it cornered Alli. It flung her off the cliff. If I wasn't there she would be dead."

Cullen nodded hands splayed in surrender "I'm sorry. It was in poor taste for me to assume anything. I just needed to be sure. After Emily-"

"I'll be careful with her." Paul interrupted gruffly.

"Should we be looking out for-"

"The vampire is of no concern anymore. I just wish I was the one to pull off its head." It took another 15 minutes for the x-rays to be done and for Cullen to come back with the results. Paul waited awkwardly in the waiting room until then wanting to give Alli whatever privacy she needed as she talked to her mom on the phone.

As soon as Cullen headed towards her room Paul quickly took his place at Alli's side again, her hand effortlessly finding his. "You are in luck. There are no fractures, the socket and your humerus are perfectly fine. Your ligaments are going to be stretched out and sore but I'll just get some conscious sedation to make you more comfortable and we will get that bone set again."

"No." Both Paul and looked at her with confusion plastered on their faces. "I'm not using conscious sedation. I said no to stronger pain killers. I'm not taking stronger medication than the relaxant you already put into my arm." The machine that was connected to her finger was increasing its speed of beeps as her heart race sped up and oxygen level decreased. "I refuse. I can handle it without it, but I don't want anything. You can put it in your records or whatever that I did it against you consultation or anything you want but I don't want it I-"

"Hey A. Deep breath. You said no. He can come up with something else okay? Deep breath." He waited holding Alli's gaze until she took a breath like he requested. "Okay. Hey Doc, what's the plan?"

paused running his hand through his hair. "We can do it. I just need to make sure you are certain about this, it can be quite uncomfortable."

Alli nodded. "I'm sure." Dr. Cullen moved next to her getting her to sit up straight her arm in his hands as he figured out the best movement to position her arm properly. "I don't want a countdown or anything just do it whenever you are ready. Paul distract me."

"Umm sure. Did you know that male and female lobsters are called the same thing as male and female chickens? How about another joke? I-" He briefly made eye contact with Cullen and then made a rash decision. He moved forward his lips meeting hers, as the slight pop of the shoulder slipping back into place rang out behind them.


	6. Chapter 6

First what Alli felt was an almost white kind of pain. The Kind that makes your entire body seem to be frozen in that singular moment. Something unfamiliar slipped into the moment. Soft lips against hers. Alli had been kissed before. Her first kiss was in preschool when she married Steven McKowski in free time. But this was far different than the slobbery grape flavored kisses from a fellow 3 year old. It certainly was different from the series of sloppy and slightly practiced kisses from her two "boyfriends" in high school.

This was warmer. Somehow in the seconds their lips had met together it has left everything else standing still. It felt warmer than Paul's weirdly warm body heat. It seemed to permeate through her entire body. She felt whole somehow, which was ridiculous. A kiss couldnt' suddenly make a person more significant in the universe.

Alli pulled away feeling mildly lightheaded. The second their lips weren't touching Alli could suddenly think again and felt her eyes narrow as she shot a glare at Paul her foot shooting outwards to kick him firmly in the shin. "Don't do that again." She turned towards Dr. Cullen. "I'm sorry about that. Am I good to go now?"

Dr. Cullen gave a smile that clearly said everything was alright. "As long as everything feels fine you are pretty much done. If you feel dizzy or are having trouble with your vision come back. And you will have to have your arm in a sling for a little bit while your ligaments constrict again to hold your shoulder in place. Come back in two weeks and we will see if you can be free of the sling too." He passed her the piece of black fabric and helped her fit it to her arm. "It was great meeting you Alli. I'll see you in two weeks."

Alli gave him a smile as he left and then turned her attention to the smirking boy to her side. "The only reason I'm not storming out is because I need you to drive me home. But if you ever kiss me again I will punch you in the face."

"Noted." Paul said with a nod trying to keep his smile off his face. "Am I driving to your car or to your house? I assume you didn't walk to the cliffs?"

"My car broke down. I need to stop by it to grab some things out of it but I will need to get someone to take it to a mechanic. Unless you know cars?" Alli said with a sigh, hopefully looking up at Paul.

Paul shook his head. "Quil, Embry, and Jake. They are your best bet for cars. I know the basics but I never wanted to be a mechanic." He grabbed the plastic bag filled with soaking clothing Alli had changed out of for the scrubs the nurses had kindly given her. He started leading Alli out and to his car. He opened the door for her before she could protest and quickly darted the the driver's side.

Alli got settled and focused herself on the task of trying to buckle her seatbelt before she finally responded. "What did you want to be?"

Paul gave a short laugh as he ran his hand through his hair. "Um- a doctor, I guess?" He laughed again. "I started my training to be an EMT last year, I didn't finish it though."

"Why?" She didn't understand why Paul made her so chatty or why his laugh made her stomach fill up with butterflies, but she never wanted him to stop talking.

"Life happened? I just didn't get the chance." Paul said sadly, and an awkward silence filled the car.

"That's dumb" Alli's voice broke the silence. She glanced over at him to find him smiling, and she couldn't help to smile back.

"Life is dumb." Paul agreed. "Now what do you want to do with your dumb life?"

"It's kind of weird." She looked back at him to see him nodding to continue. "I want to be a pilot? I'm kind of crazy about flying."

"That's not weird. That's cool." Paul said "You just have the spirit of a blue jay in you is all."

"That is the corniest thing I have ever heard. Why am I not the Raven in this story? Didn't the two legged man make the raven in the image of him?"

Paul laughed at Alli's indignation at his descriptor. "No. He turned them into a raven because he was greedy. The Blue Jay got changed first and then the raven was made as a warped image of the Jay."

Paul pulled over beside Alli's car and parked. Before Alli could ask he was already outside her door opening it up an umbrella in the process of being opened to shield her from the rain that was still drizzling outside. Paul's shoulders were already glistening with the water settling on them. Alli rolled her eyes and shoved the umbrella over his head. "I'm fine. I'm wet anyways."

She stepped into the rain and fumbled until she got her keys into the door. She glanced up only to see the umbrella over her once again. She shot a quick side eye at Paul but didn't say anything as she gathered her bag and a few things from her car before getting back into Paul's car as fast as she could avoiding any look into the forest. The icy cold feeling of that man's hand couldn't be a real memory. It just didn't make sense. She must have hit her head and dreamed that part.

Alli tried to ignore Paul's concerned look as she slipped into her own thoughts, trying to rationalize and process what had just happened. She brushed him off with a reference that her spacing out must be because of the medication that they gave her and focused on the road ahead occasionally quiping out instructions about how to get to her home. He didn't have too much trouble navigating there. La Push wasn't big.

To Alli's surprise he even walked her up to her door. "I'm fine. You can go home. Thank you but I'm okay." Paul gave her a long look and knocked anyways. "Are you kidding me? Remember that thing about consent and boundaries?"

Before Alli could go inside and slam the door her mother, looking extremely frazzled opened the door. Immediately hands were fluttering over her, concerned eyes meeting hers before looking back at the boy standing behind her.

Immediately Paul was wrapped into a hug, about a thousand words of thanks pouring out of Alli's mother's mouth. Paul looked almost uncomfortable with the sudden contact as he made confused eye contact with Alli. Even though he easily was two of Alli's mother she Alli shrugged in response "Go with it." she mouthed at Paul as he lightly patted her mother's back.

Alli cleared her throat. "Mom. That is Paul."

Her mother finally released Paul. "Allison." Alli's eyes widened as her full name was used "You are so unbelievably lucky to have a friend like this."

Alli's instinct was to argue. Distance, that was important. This boy with the eyes from her dream, she knew he was dangerous. "He's not-" something in her chest pulled taut almost painfully as she looked at him again. "I mean, yeah." she tried to wipe the resigned tone out of her voice with a quick throat clear "I'm lucky to have him as my friend. Thanks Paul." She gave a smile, a real genuine smile and then gave a wave with her one working arm and turned into the house. _What am I doing._ She thought as she heard the door close.

And with that click of the door she let out a sign not sure of why she was so frustrated at the fact that this boy just wanted to be her friend. Every part of her seemed to scream that he was a bad idea that he was an omen of death, destruction, of something terrible.

She realized after a moment that her mom had been saying something. Something probably important she wasn't quite sure. She made up some excuse that she was tired. For whatever reason her mom believed her. Alli quickly slipped upstairs.

She stared at her ceiling. She wanted to believe that Paul was telling the truth with what he was saying. That she had just slipped. She had imagined what had happened before. She had imagined the cold grip. The stone skin. The sound of growls. She did hit her head. Concussions caused memory modifications right?

She looked down at her phone buzzing. A number she didn't recognize. She read the message and couldn't help but roll her eyes. Distance. That was all she wanted. And her cousin gives him her phone number.

 _ **I got your numbr from Q. Let me know if you need anything.**_

Alli starting typing out some response along the lines of a four letter word off. But paused before hitting send on the hostile message. She deleted her words quickly.

 _ **I'm a-ok thx.**_

Almost immediately her phone buzzed again.

 _ **Its a standing offer. Just let me know.**_

Alli rolled her eyes tossing the phone onto her bedside table. She took a deep breath, holding it in for a second before letting a long exhale out. Despite all her intentions she was 90% certain Paul was not leaving her life any time soon.

 **A/N:** ITS CAMP NANOWRIMO! Basically I'm (hopefully) writing 30,000 words of this story in a month. They will be uploaded as I write. 3 Thanks for reading per usual guys.


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